OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team was edged 60-52 by South Dakota Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks are now 8-10 (1-4 Summit League), while the Coyotes improve to 16-3 (5-1 Summit League).
Senior forward Mikaela Shaw paced the Mavericks with 22 points, hitting 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Senior forward Michaela Dapprich added 15 points with three 3-pointers.
Senior guard Abi Lujan added a game-high nine rebounds, while sophomore center Courtney Vaccher had seven points and seven rebounds.
Allison Arens led South Dakota with 23 points, connecting on 8-of-17 from the field. Abigail Fogg added 13 points, and Jaycee Bradley chipped in 12 points.
The Mavericks shot .314 (16-of-51) from the field, while the Coyotes finished at .377 (20-of-53) from the floor. UNO shot .217 (5-of-23) from long distance, while USD hit .292 (7-of-24) from beyond the arc. Omaha finished at .833 (15-of-18) from the charity stripe, while South Dakota ended the afternoon at .867 (13-of-15).
The first quarter was a back and forth affair. Omaha took an early 6-4 lead on a Dapprich 3-pointer and free throws from Shaw and Vaccher. A 7-1 run gave South Dakota a four-point advantage midway through the quarter. A three from Dapprich and a jumper from Shaw put the Mavericks up four with under a minute left before a layup from Arens cut the lead to 19-17 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Omaha continued to clamp down defensively in the second quarter, holding South Dakota to just six points on 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) shooting. The Mavericks outrebounded the Coyotes 9-8 in the period to take a 29-23 lead at the halftime break.
Two Shaw free throws early in the third period gave Omaha its largest lead of the afternoon at 33-24. USD responded by holding UNO scoreless over the next 6:09 and took a one-point lead on an Arens layup, 34-33. Four straight points from Shaw put Omaha ahead by three before a three from Arens tied the game at 37-37. A jumper in the paint from Dapprich game Omaha a 39-37 lead at the end of three quarters.
Omaha and South Dakota traded baskets to start the fourth quarter, with a layup from Vaccher putting UNO up four. Back-to-back threes from Fogg and Arens put USD ahead 45-43 with 4:53 left in regulation. A 3-pointer from Dapprich knotted it at 48-all. The Mavericks took their final lead of the night, 50-48, on a Shaw layup. South Dakota then countered with baskets from Fogg and Arens to take a 52-50 lead with 1:22 left. The Coyotes never let the Mavericks back under four for the remainder of the game, taking their largest lead at 60-52 in the final seconds.
Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 18, visiting North Dakota State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Scheels Center inside the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, in Fargo, N.D., and the game will be broadcast live on Midco and ESPN3. Additionally, Donny Baarns will have the call on 1290 Zone 2. Live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
